On reflection + Google | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/money/series/onreflection+technology/google
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:54:46 GMT2015-03-03T20:54:46Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Google searches and public-service scamshttp://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/jan/24/google-searches-public-service-scams
‘Copycat’ websites, premium rate numbers for HMRC or the NHS … Google should take responsibility and block the bottom feeders who con the public<p>How can HM Revenue &amp; Customs keep me waiting on the self-assessment helpline number for 15 minutes (before I give up), then charge me &pound;45 for the call because it’s a premium rate line! The reader reporting this to me was “incandescent” that HMRC could stoop so low, and suggested I investigate. But while it’s true she was on the line to HMRC, and she was indeed charged &pound;45, it wasn’t HMRC benefiting, but one of the low-life bottom feeders who create websites promoting premium rate lines that trick people into paying extortionate sums for public services.</p><p>When I contacted HMRC, they were as hopping mad as she was. If you are having trouble filling in your self-assessment form this weekend, HMRC’s tax helpline number is 0300 200 3310. HMRC does not, and never has, operated premium rate lines. What our reader had done was type “tax helpline number” into Google. At the top of the page, up came “Tax office contact number” which, when you click on it, bluntly says that the HMRC self-assessment number is one beginning with 0905. But call this number and you’ll be charged &pound;1.53 a minute from a landline, or double that from a mobile (which unfortunately our reader used). It is not HMRC, but operated by Number-Help-Contact.co.uk, run by Play Brick Telecom.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/jan/24/google-searches-public-service-scams">Continue reading...</a>ScamsHousehold billsConsumer affairsMoneyHMRCVirgin RailTelecommunications industryBusinessGoogleTechnologySat, 24 Jan 2015 07:01:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/jan/24/google-searches-public-service-scamsPhotograph: Chris Ison/PAGoogle sells AdWords such as ‘NHS’ or ‘HMRC’, so companies can propel themselves to the top spot on search pages. Photograph: Chris Ison/PAPhotograph: Chris Ison/PAGoogle sells AdWords such as ‘NHS’ or ‘HMRC’, so companies can propel themselves to the top spot on search pages. Photograph: Chris Ison/PAPatrick Collinson2015-01-24T07:01:01ZGoogle must do the right thing on copycat websiteshttp://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2014/feb/01/google-do-right-thing-copycat-websites
Google seems to have lost its compass. It should hand back to victims the money it has made from copycat websites<p>Melanie can barely face telling her 74-year-old mother that she has been fooled out of &pound;400 after filing her tax return through taxreturngateway.com rather than the official HMRC website. Her mum spends most of her time at the Papworth Hospital, where her husband is awaiting a bypass.</p><p>Martin, 77, is in a similar position. His wife wrote to me, aghast that after typing &quot;tax returns&quot; into Google it was the first site that came up, and he lost &pound;500. Then there's Nikki, who tells me she has been depressed all week after discovering – on reading my column last week – that she too had fallen for it, losing &pound;500.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2014/feb/01/google-do-right-thing-copycat-websites">Continue reading...</a>Consumer rightsConsumer affairsTaxMoneyGoogleInternetTechnologyUK newsSelf-assessment taxIncome taxSat, 01 Feb 2014 07:00:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2014/feb/01/google-do-right-thing-copycat-websitesKaren Bleier/AFP/Getty ImagesGoogle should shift sites that charge for government services away from the top of the page.Karen Bleier/GettyGoogle logo. Photograph: Karen Bleier/GettyPatrick Collinson2014-02-01T07:00:23ZThe Google adverts helping to rip-off consumershttp://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2013/feb/02/google-adverts-rip-off-consumers
Customers are fleeced by paying more for services, such as the congestion charge and visas, than they need to<p>There are a bunch of slimy toerags who create websites that trick people into <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/mar/02/rip-off-nhs-direct-phone-number" title="">paying &pound;1.50 a minute to ring free services</a> such as calling NHS Direct and DWP benefit helplines, or lure them into paying &pound;10 for a European health insurance card when they're free, or charge &pound;50 for what should be an &pound;8 US visa. Now unsuspecting visitors to London are being targeted with sites that mislead drivers into paying 50% more than they should for the congestion charge.</p><p>Linda (not her real name) had not driven into the congestion charge area for some time. In a &quot;tearing hurry&quot; she went on to Google and, on the first site to come up, paid the &pound;15 fee. Only later did she realise that it wasn't the official Transport for London site, and that the real fee was &pound;10.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2013/feb/02/google-adverts-rip-off-consumers">Continue reading...</a>Consumer affairsOnline shoppingMoneyGoogleTechnologyCongestion chargingPoliticsSat, 02 Feb 2013 07:01:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2013/feb/02/google-adverts-rip-off-consumersJonathan Hordle/ Rex FeaturesWebsites aiming to charge customers more than official sites can pay for adverts that appear at the top of search results. Photograph: Jonathan Hordle/ Rex FeaturesJonathan Hordle/ Rex FeaturesGoogle search Photograph: Jonathan Hordle/ Rex FeaturesPatrick Collinson2013-02-02T07:01:09ZBeware the rip-off NHS Direct phone numbershttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/mar/02/rip-off-nhs-direct-phone-number
A Google search points you straight to a website and a phone number which will cost at least £1.53 to call<p>Is this the most breathtakingly cynical business around? Some quite literally sick-minded individuals have thought up a way of cashing in on people who have fallen ill and urgently want to contact NHS Direct.</p><p>Type &quot;NHS Direct telephone number&quot; into Google, and right at the top of the search engine's results you'll see &quot;NHS Direct Phone Number – Need to speak to NHS Direct?&quot;. Comfortingly, the website address is nhsdirect.callerhelp.co.uk.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/mar/02/rip-off-nhs-direct-phone-number">Continue reading...</a>Consumer affairsMoneyGoogleTechnologyNHSSocietyFri, 02 Mar 2012 23:01:52 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/mar/02/rip-off-nhs-direct-phone-numberLinda Nylind/GuardianCalling the real NHS Direct number costs only 5p a minute on a BT line, but Google says that 'Adwords' which lead to much higher charges do not breach its ethics. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the GuardianLinda Nylind/GuardianCalling the real NHS Direct number costs only 5p a minute on a BT line, but Google says that 'Adwords' which lead to much higher charges do not breach its ethics. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the GuardianPatrick Collinson2012-03-02T23:01:52Z